Q&A with Bethany Mansfield, NHW Director

Bethany Mansfield of Liberty, Tennessee was elected to a four-year term to the National Hereford Women (NHW) Board of Directors this past October. She and her husband Josh own Ridgetop Farms and Short Mountain Livestock Testing. I recently had the chance to catch-up with Bethany and ask her a few questions about running for the NHW board and her new responsibilities.

You were not raised on a farm or around Hereford cattle, how did your passion for Herefords begin?

My husband, Josh, and I always dreamed of living on a cattle ranch. I grew up in rural Kentucky and my great grandparents raised oxen for plowing and working fields. Josh’s grandfather raised commercial cattle in West Tennessee, and he would spend weeks in the summer helping his grandfather tend them.

In 2012, we decided to take the plunge and started buying property with my Father-in-law and Motherin-law, Dr. Joseph and Dorothy Mansfield. We began to piece close to six hundred acres back together. It was essentially a blank slate that needed fencing and a lot of work. We purchased a set of eight commercial cow/ calf pairs that we called our “training wheel cows’’. The goal was pretty simple, keep them alive! I attended the Master Beef courses in 2013 then signed up and completed the first UT/Select Sire AI certification program in Spring Hill, TN.

While we were busy building our new home & farm, we would drive by our neighbor’s and see the prettiest red cows with white faces - it was love at first sight. Learning of the docility of Herefords and attending a few production sales sealed the deal. Everything thereafter was for the love of Herefords and our new family we were starting. We want to create a legacy for our two sons, Logan and Landon, to carry forward.

Can you tell us a little about your farm and new business venture?

Ridgetop Farms was a dream that has become reality. We have worked hard over the past decade to collect and breed cattle that are both pretty, functional, and efficient. We run close to one hundred head of registered Herefords and practice rotational grazing in effort to maximize the long growing season for grass in Middle Tennessee. We continually seek out the best Hereford genetics in the country and fold them into our cowherd as part of our progressive breeding program.

Short Mountain Livestock Testing was an idea spawned from our extensive work with flushing, IVF, AI, and embryo transfers. The more we understood the science behind using these breeding functions, the more information we craved. We wanted to know what “stuck” as early as possible without potentially risking the pregnancy. Blood pregnancy testing is an effective way to achieve this. This new venture allows us to share this service with other breeders in Middle Tennessee and surrounding states.

What motivated you to run for the NHW board of directors?

We had been attending the annual meeting and taking in the educational seminars for a couple of years and that is where I met several former board members. I fell in love with their mission to invest in the future of our breed and youth. A current member and dear friend reached out to suggest I run for the NHW board of directors. I felt like it was a calling since I wanted to be more involved. I have 7- and 9-year-old boys that love this industry. I am passionate about Herefords and felt like my non-Ag background and Business and Marketing education might bring something different to the table to help positively contribute to the promotion of the breed and our youth.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

Meeting and collaborating with these brilliant Hereford ladies has been a treat. My favorite experience so far was watching the presentation of a $63,000 check to the Hereford Youth Foundation of America to fully fund the Ostgaard-Breiner Educational Scholarships. These amazing women volunteered their time and skills to gather resources to fund this scholarship. The pure joy it brought to be able to fund this scholarship to help better someone’s future was astounding. This was the second day of gathering as a newly elected board member and it motivated me to see the possibilities and initiatives we could take on together.

The NHW strive to promote Herefords, CHB, and support the Hereford Youth. How does the organization go about accomplishing those goals?

Education, Education, Education. We accomplish these goals by providing educational resources. It takes a village to accomplish what we do. We collaborate with the AHA, NJHA, and HYFA throughout the year to orchestrate multiple fundraising campaigns for youth scholarships and activities through various fundraisers. This year’s goal is to fully fund the Bud Snidow Award. This past November we offered our first ever NHW Annual Calendar that was filled with photographs from amazing female Hereford photographers. We just completed our Cimarron Trailer raffle, which I am thrilled to say a Tennessee breeder won!

The goal is twofold; working together to connect and engage Hereford enthusiasts throughout the country and raise funds to support our industry’s youth. We also take a lot of pride in our Hereford Queen Program and our ongoing involvement with the Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE). We host hands-on activities and contests to promote breed and industry education. As an organization, we hope to build knowledge and confidence in our youth through these programs.

What will be your responsibilities for the board this year?

It takes teamwork and a great membership to make this organization run effectively. This board hit the ground running after our annual meeting in October. I have many different responsibilities on the board since I am on six different committees. My skills are in marketing and advertising, therefore my primary focus since joining so far is on our digital presence. I have been working on promotional material for our social media platforms to promote our mission and fundraisers. The website is getting a big refresh with exciting new interfaces!

What are you looking forward to the most during your time on the board? Are there any specific goals you hope to accomplish within the organization?

I look forward to working alongside amazing Hereford enthusiasts and learning from them to further the NHW Mission. We are all from different walks of life with various life experiences that will contribute to the inevitable success of the organization. This is an amazing learning and growth opportunity on a personal & professional level.

One of the challenges we have as an organization is making our members feel included. The ladies of the NHW are spread across these United States and it is difficult to make it feel warm and welcoming when we, as a membership, only meet twice a year. My goal, as well as this board’s, is to communicate more by utilizing various digital platforms to keep everyone informed, included, and involved. We are so fortunate to have the breed membership that we do and when we all work together towards the same goal, success can be limitless.